Apparatus for molding wax



J. V. COWAN APPARATUS FOR MOLDING WAX Feb. l5, 1949.

2 Shee'ts-Sheet l Filed May 7, 1945 OF 4/2 PRESSURE INVENTOR J.' K (0W/w BY 4?( .I WM?" ATTORNEY Feb. 15, 1949- J. v. cowAN 2,461,723

APPARATUS FOR MOLDING WAX 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed lMay 7, 1945 INVENTOR BY f M1195' TTORNEY v or die.A This ican be counteracted by Patented Feb. 15, 1949 UNITED STATE 2,461,723 y APPARATUS Foa MoLDING 1WAX John V. Cowan, Williston Park, N. Y., assignor of one-half to` Ysak Pessell, Brooklyn, N. Y.

. vApplication May 7, 1945,'seria1No. 592,309V f.

2 Claims.

This invention relates to casting and more specifically to apparatus for forming patterns of wax and the like for use in casting machines.

For many forms of casting machines it is customary to use wax patterns. These patterns can be cast orinjected under pressure in a mold or die while the wax is in liquid form and then allowed to cool. The finished pattern takes the shape of the mold or die but due to shrinkage the wax pattern is smaller than the cavity inthe mold making the cavity larger but as some waxes shrink more than others inA cooling, this method of correction is atybest uncertain and sometimes impossible. The present invention relates to vmethods of and apparatus of forming patterns of this type in which this disadvantage is alleviated or not present.

It `is Yfan object of this invention to provide novel apparatus for forming patterns of wax and theflike Vwhich are suitable for use in casting jewelrypdental parts or industrial parts, for eX- arnple.

It is another object of this invention to provide apparatusV for forming patterns of wax and the like whichutilize Vacuum .and pressure operations.`

Other objects, lsome of them more or less related to thosegiven above, will be Aapparent as4 the description proceeds.

In accordance with the present invention, molten waxor similar material is forcedby pres- Y sure into a die or mold cavitywhich is complementary to the shape of. the finished pattern and which is in an evacuated chamber.. Pressure, preferably having a still higher value, is applied to the wax while itis cooling togforce it against the 'sides-of the cavityl and thus compensate for the shrinkage of the wax `in thecavity. When the .wax in .the -cavity is completely cooled, the pressure is removed, atmospheric vpressure reestablished in the chamber an-d the die or mold removed. The finished pattern is almost exactly the .same size as the cavity in which it was formed.

In accordance with a specific illustrative emibodiment of the present invention, a cylindrical containery having a heating coil therearound keeps the waX ina molten condition. Thiscontainer is open to the atmosphere and has a valved exit'into a lower-cylindrical container provided with a pipe through which high gas ,pressure can be applied to the waX in this container forcing it through avalved openingdinto athick walled cylinderwithin this container.vv This cylinderisk provided withh ,a .piston having v,n.large head inadouble-,actingncylinder locatediabove the up;

per container. After a sufficient amount ofwax has been forced into the cylinder and out ofthe valved exit port thereof into an enclosure mem-` ber for the die or mold to fill the cavity therein,

high pressure is applied to the top'of the largev piston head thus exerting a tremendous. pressure on the relatively small piston'and causing it to force the wax into the die under great pressure to overcome the effect of shrinkage. The enclosure member has a platen Aat the lower portion thereof which is moved vertically by `a` piston member moving within a double-acting air cylinder. Prior to the ejection of the wax from the small cylinder, the ydie or mold is placed on theA platen through av spring-biased door of the en-r closure member. The door is held closed while the enclosure member is evacuated `and it then remains closed due to the difference in-pressure.

between the outside and inside. The platen is. raised until the exit vport of the small cylinder is adjacent the entrance to the die or mold cavity.

The wax is then ejected from 'the small cylinder as described above. After the mold Aor die cavity is filled with the waX, air is applied to the lower surface of the large piston-head forcing the pis-V ton upward closing therebyjthe valved exit port and permitting wax to be sucked into the small` cylinder below the piston from the lower wax; container. Atmospheric pressure is reestablished in the enclosure member causing the door vto .spring open. The platen is then lowered and removed, the wax pattern being removed from-the die or mold by well-known means. The pattern formed by the method and apparatus of thisinvention is almost exactly'the same sizev as the die cavity and of complemental shape thereto.

The invention will be `more readily undel'iood7^ by referring tothe following description taken in connection with the., y accompanying j drawings;

, forming a part thereof, in which: g

Fig'l is elevationview, partly in cross-section,

of'a machine, in accordance withthe inventionL` for injecting wax and the like into the cavityofa mold or die;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine ofFijg.- 1Y

with portions broken away; and

, Fig.3 is a horizontal cross-sectionalview takerr along thelines3-3 in Fig. 1. l

Referring more particularly-to the drawings;

a cavity I2 therein for the purpose of forming afwaxfpattern of. a shape .complemental to .thatof the cavity.l Themachine l0 issupper1tedf1toinfa 3 platform I3 and comprises an enclosure member I 4 for the die I I and, positioned above the enclosure member, an upper container I5 for the wax and a lower container It therefor, the latter which is providedwith a suitable handle 2U. The

door is spring-biased, as by a strip 2l of spring steel, to the open position. A pipe 22 is used to exhaust the member I4 of air pressure and is preferably connected to a suitable vacuum pump (not shown) for accomplishing this purpose. A second pipe 23 leads to the atmosphere through a valve 24 controlled by a solenoid 25.

' The die II rests on a platen 26 which is at# tached to a piston rod member 2l moved in a Vertical direction by means of air pressure applied to one or the other of the two ports 28 and 2Q of the double-acting air cylinder 30. Air applied to the port 29 causes the platen to be raised while air applied to the port 28 causes it to be lowered.

' The war` or similar substance to be used in the machine I is placed in the upper container I5 through the opening 3| therein. The container I is cylindrical and has an insulated heating to the shape of the desired pattern to be made, is placed on the platen 2e. The door is then closed and held closed while the air in the enclosure member I4 is evacuated by means of a vacuum pump connected to the pipe 22. The valve 24 is, of course, closed during this operation. As soon as the member I4 is evacuated or the pressure therein reaches a Very low value, the diierence in pressure between the outside and the inside of the member I4'is suiicient to overcome the bias of the spring 2l and the door is held closed by this pressure diierential. An air pressure is then introduced into the port 28 causing the platen 26 to be raised until it is element 32 around it for causing the wax to be melted or maintained in that condition. The container I5 has an opening 34 in the bottom 33 thereof leading to the lower container I5. This opening is closed by a ball valve 35 operated by a rod 36 actuated by solenoid 3l at the appropriate time in the operating cycle to permit wax to flow into the container i6 which has an insulated heating element 38 around it. A pipe 39 leading to a source of air pressure passes through the container I5 and into the container i6 for a purpose which will be explained below.

' Placed coaxially with and surrounded by the container I6`is the thick-walled cylinder l?, the walls being much thicker than the inside diameter ofthe cylinder due to the tremendous pressure exerted therein. A valve 40 comprising a ball and spring, such as is commonly used in grease guns, for example, is placed in a passageway leading from the container I6 to the interior of the cylinder I'I while a similar valve 4I is placed in the exit port 42 of the cylinder Il leading into the enclosure member I4.

The piston IB in the cylinder I'I is attached to a piston rod 43 of larger diameter which passes through a block 44 serving as one end of a doubleacting air cylinder 45. The piston rod 43 has a relatively large head 46 attached thereto and it can be driven up or down by air pressure applied through pipe 4'I or port 43, respectively. It will be apparent that due to the great diderence in size of the piston head 4E and the diameter of the piston |18 the pressure in pounds per square inch exerted'by the latter is many times the pressure in pounds per square inch on the head 4G as the pressures per unit area are inversely proportional to the piston areas. y Thus when the piston I8 is driven downwardly, as will be explained below, a tremendous pressure is exerted on wax in the cylinder Il' and it is driven through the exit port 42 into the die II below at great pressure.

The operation of the machine Ill will now be described. The door I9 is opened and the die or mold II, having a cavity I2 therein corresponding pushed tightly against the exit port 42 of the cylinder Il'. The Wax or similar substance in the container I5 has beenmade molten or maintained in that'condition by means of electric current applied to the heater coils 32. The valve 35 has been open and molten wax from the container l5 iiows downwardly into the container it where it ls maintained in a molten condition by current applied to the heating coils 36. At this point the solenoid 3l is actuated to raise the rod 3G and close the valve 34. Air pressure is then applied to the pipe 39 to force molten wax through the valves 4i) and 4I and exit port 4E into the evacuated die I I. Due to the vacuum there are no air bubbles in the waX and the pressure forces the wax into every part oi the cavity. In cooling, all waxes of the .type used for this purpose shrink some, and by unequal amounts, and 'the pattern normally tends to become somewhat smaller than the cavity` In accordance with the present invention, however, this effect is compensated by forcing wax into the die under still greater pressure while it is cooling. To accomplish this, the solenoid 3l is de-energized, the air pressure in the pipe 39 released, and air pressure is introduced in the port 48 causing the piston head 46 and hence the piston I8 to be driven downwardly under tremendous pressure thus feeding as much wax through the valve 4I and the exit port Minto the die II as is required by the shrinking of the wax already introduced therein. This also causes valve 4D to close. After the die is lled, the air pressure in the port 48 is released and air presn sure is applied in the pipe 41 to raise thepiston head 46 and hence the piston I. This latter action allows valve 4l to close and valve IS to open and by suction introduces fresh wax into the cylinder I I. The solenoid 25 is then energized and the valve 24 thereby opened to reestablish atmospheric pressure in the enclosure member I4 and causes the door I9 to be swung open. The air pressure at the port 29 is released and air pressure applied at the port 28, driving the piston rod 21 and hence the platen 28 downwardly. The die I I is then removed from the enclosure member I4 and the pattern taken from the die.

Various changes can be made in the embodiu ment described above without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is indicated by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine for injecting molten material into a die having an opening at the upper portion thereof, comprising a vertically movable platen passage, heating means for maintaining the ma-f:

terial in said two compartments in a molten condition, a second valved passage between said upper compartment and said vacuum chamber, means for raising the platen in said vacuum chamber until the opening in the top of said die is closely adjacent said second passage and for maintaining the platen in said position, a third valved passage between said lower compartment and said second passage, pressuremeans, adapted to be operated when the valve in said rst passage is closed and the valves in said second and third passages are open, for forcing molten material Aunder a first pressure which is greater than atmospheric pressure into the die in said vacuum chamber, a piston in said second passage, and means for driving said piston downwardly in said passage at a pressure much greater than said rst pressure to force additional molten material in said die to compensate for the shrinkage of the pattern formed therein due to cooling.

2. The combination of elements as in claim 1 in which the walls of said second passage are much thicker than the diameter of said piston therein and said piston is mechanically connected to a second pressure-actuated piston having an JOHN V. COWAN.

REFERENCES CITED The yfollowing references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 807,072 Grimes Dec. 12, 1905 1,072,738 King Sept. 9, 1913 1,214,904 Doehler Feb. 6, 1917 2,111,857 Jeiery Mar. 22, 1938 2,136,383 Huck Nov. 15, 1938 2,181,157 Smith Nov. 28, 1939 2,207,426 Bailey July 9, 1940 2,232,104 Ernst Feb. 18, 1941 2,259,187 Shaw et al Oct. 14, 1941 2,274,279 Shaw Feb. 24, 1942 2,304,461 Knowles Dec. 8, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date l829,604 France July 1, 1938 

